CREATURES Latest Topicshttps://www.loverslab.com/forum/578-creatures/CREATURES Latest TopicsenKorfalgshttps://www.loverslab.com/topic/231058-korfalgs/ Korfalgs are aquatic, predatory creatures primarily found in the swamps of Ustmaar and northeastern Maidenfell. They are blob-like in appearance and have four sets of external, tendril-like arms which they use to breathe and to grapple their victims into submission. They can transpose living organisms directly through the skin of the abdomen into a chamber known as the Herlac where they possess three highly modified arms which change function based on a cyclic pattern. The Herlac is coated in a thick layer of adhesive mucus which contains a powerful nerve suppressant that quickly immobilizes the victim once caught inside. For most of the year, the internal arms are used to discharge digestive enzymes into the primary cavities of a victim’s body, but during the breeding season, the arms are co-opted to discharge sperm and the mucus switches to a highly nutrition-rich composition. The Herlac also contains sensitive hormone receptors which have evolved to distinguish between female and male pheromones in other animals. If male pheromones are detected within the Herlac during the breeding season, the Herlac begins an immediate transition out of the mating phase and will begin to kill the victim with digestive enzymes within only a few days. Korfalgs stop eating while they have a victim caught in the Herlac and the mucus in the breeding season actively transfers nutrients from the Korfalg to the victim in order to keep the latter alive. Creatures which are not able to absorb these nutrients directly through the skin usually die in short succession even if they are caught during the breeding season. Should a female victim manage to survive the processes thus far described, the Korfalg will become sluggish and move to the nearest lake or a deep, undisturbed portion of its own swamp. There it will sink to the bottom with its abdomen facing up and bury most of its body below the sand or mud while keeping its external arms exposed to retrieve oxygen. At this point, the Korfalg will enter a hibernation-like state that lasts until the victim has undergone a full pregnancy within the Herlac. For reference, Korfalg-induced pregnancies usually last about as long as normal pregnancies would for the females in question. When the Korfalg spawn are finally about to be born they push the arm which was used to inseminate the female out of the vaginal cavity and then crawl out of the Herlac to fend for themselves. Over the next day or so, the parent Korfalg’s normal body functions will slowly begin to return and it will eventually wake up and dig itself out of the sand/mud. At this point, its Herlac will already have begun to kill the female with digestive enzymes to give the Korfalg the energy it needs to make a full recovery.

 

Korfalgs are widely despised, known about, and famed for their ravenous appetite in the regions where they are found, but they are largely an unknown entity to the peoples living outside of the West. Out of all peoples, the Orcs of Ustmaar have a particularly long history of encounters with Korfalgs, but even they know relatively little about them. A lot of common knowledge about the creatures was lost during the chaos of the Fifth and Sixth Eras, particularly knowledge about their reproductive habits, but also a handful of rare firsthand accounts which explained how one could escape once caught in a Herlac. Thankfully, instances of people being snatched from boats and partially digested bodies being found inside of dead Korfalgs has made it common knowledge that they will try to eat people if possible, and furthermore, it is widely known that Herlacs posses an inner coating with unusual medicinal properties, but theories regarding what it can be used for vary a great deal.

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